Man, 58, missing in Lake Michigan after falling from boat in park

GOLD COAST — The search is underway for a missing boater who came across the “park” area of ​​Lake Michigan late Saturday afternoon.

A 58-year-old man fell from a boat around 4:20 p.m. Saturday in Lake Michigan Park, an area popular with boaters adjacent to the 1000 block of North DuSable Lake Shore Drive, police said.

Chicago Fire crews began searching for the man Saturday afternoon, and the search was called off Saturday night, officials said. The search resumed Sunday morning, but after an hour and a half it was called off and the mission was transformed into a recovery effort led by the Chicago Police Department's marine unit, a fire spokesman said from Chicago.

Recovery teams returned with a boat equipped with “side-scan sonar” capable of mapping the lake bottom, according to NBC5.

As of Sunday afternoon, the man had still not been found.

The boater was enjoying warm early summer weather at the park, a section of Lake Michigan near the coast and protected by strong wave action from the breakwaters. Boaters often congregate in the area, forming boat chains and often throwing noisy parties. An article in the Chicago Reader called the park “River North on the water.”

Last summer, a 20-year-old woman was killed and six other people had to be rescued after their boat hit a breakwater in the park and capsized.

The previous summer, tragedy struck the park twice in less than a week. First, two women on a raft were sucked into a boat's propeller, causing one to lose both legs below the knee. A few days later, one person went missing and another person was rescued in critical condition after falling into the water in the park.

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